Feed technology innovations lead the top trends to watch at World Pork Expo, June 7-9
New rules, new demands and new innovations are all driving a shift to reduced antibiotics usage and a growing segment of “no antibiotics ever” (NAE) product lines for the pork industry. But how can producers make the transition without sacrificing animal health, welfare and performance?
As the toolbox of options expands to help operations succeed with reduced antibiotics usage and even NAE, one of the leading areas of advancement is feed technology.
Hog farmers in Canada and the U.S. are in a unique position to take advantage of next generation upgrades in bio-based feed additives, with benefits covering everything from improved feed efficiency and animal performance to enhanced health and reduced environmental impact.
The feed tech factor
“Feed technology, I believe, will be what people talk about years from now as a critical factor that helped animal agriculture shift to the future,” says leading feed additive researcher Dr. Bogdan Slominski. “It has been an important, rising factor for many years now but today the science-driven advances paired with the expanding industry need are hitting a high point.”
The increasing adoption of reduced or no antibiotics production is a top example of an area of expanding need where feed technology can help provide solutions, says Slominski. “It can integrate with health and welfare strategies to support optimal results both for the animals and for the success of livestock operations.”
Raising the bar
With the right application of feed technology, even NAE systems can produce consistently high animal performance and production metrics substantially exceeding those produced by previous systems using medicated feed.
Three keys to know
Shift is now in high gear – In the U.S., big restrictions are now in effect with the full implementation of the new Veterinary Feed Directive in early 2017. Similar greater restrictions are oversight are expected to be advanced for Canada in the coming months and implemented for 2018.
New expectations for judicious use – Antibiotics have their place when needed to address specific health issues, but with the new changes they will no longer be acceptable for purely production benefits such as growth promotion.
Innovations are expanding the toolbox to help – Research advances are dramatically expanding the opportunities to not only get more benefits from feed but also to utilize new advances in bio-based feed additives. This is creating a larger toolbox for operations to draw from to succeed in the new environment.
New feed analysis options
One of the greatest areas of advancement currently is nutritional extraction via the use of multi-carbohydrase enzyme formulations. These have the ability to target and address a greater number of the different types of indigestible or hard-to-digest components of feed used in swine diets.
A pioneering company in the multi-carbohydrase appraoch is Canadian Bio-Systems Inc., which along with its advanced product portfolio is set to unveil a new feed analysis app at World Pork Expo, designed to dramatically boost the decision-making process for maximizing nutritional extraction from a variety of swine diets.
Follow @canadianbio on Twitter for the latest from the event floor June 7-9. Visit the Canadian Bio-Systems and Wilbur-Ellis booth to learn what's new in feed technology.
